Tamper-proof container closure



Sept. 5, 1961 F. B. RUDDER ETAL 2,998,897

TAMPER-PROOF CONTAINER CLOSURE Filed Jan. 15, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVEN TORS ANK B. RUDDER Z0 ZEOIVARD E. .sw so/v 9 LEONARD 6'- /1/7 1 35/0 MEMM ATTOH/VEY;

p 1961 I F. B. RUDDER ETAL 2,998,897

TAMPER-PROOF CONTAINER CLOSURE Filed Jan. 15, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2United States Patent TAMPER-PROOF CONTAINER CLOSURE Frank B. Rudder, 329W. Groveton St.; Leonard E. Simpson, 601 The Parkway; and Leonard G.Smith, Box

198, R1). 6, all of Fairfax County, Va.

Filed Jan. 15, 1959, Ser. No. 787,091 4 Claims. (Cl. 220-24) (Grantedunder Title 35, US. Code (1952), see. 266) The invention describedherein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government forgovernmental purposes without the payment of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a tamper-proof closure for containers.

The temporary storage of material which is not intended to be generallyaccessible to other than authorized per sonnel, and which must thereforebe safeguarded during such temporary storage, is always a problem. Thisis particularly true in the case of material which must be stored untilsuch time when it can be disposed of to prevent accessibility orknowledge of the contents of the stored material or, having been stored,must not be removed from the storage container by other than authorizedpersons. Such circumstances are encountered in the temporary storage ofmaterial such as papers and documents bearing intelligence which issubject to security regulations or other means of safeguarding thecontents of such material. The ultimate disposition of such storedmaterial is accomplished for purposes of economy only periodically andtherefore necessitates temporary storage under safeguarded conditions.

It is therefore an important object of the present invention to providea closure for containers temporarily storing such material, whichclosure is tamper-proof regardless of how the container is oriented inattempts to gain access to the material stored therein.

A'further important object of the present invention is to provide atamper-proof closure for a container wherein individual components ofthe closure are configured and relatively coact to prevent access to thecontents of the container.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a waste containerclosure that is economical to build and that can be easily adapted tostandard receptacles.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be fully understoodfrom the following description and claims when taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the container closure;

FIG. 2 is an inverted perspective view of the container closure showingthe details of the inner construction;

FIG. 3 is a central vertical section of a receptacle equipped with theinstant invention showing the door and tilting gate of the closure forthe receptacle in two positions; and

FIG. 4 is an inverted view of the receptacle of FIG. 3 showing the doorand tilting gate of the closure for the receptacle in two positions.

Looking now with more particularity at FIGS. 1 and 2, it is seen thatthe container closure shown generally by 1 carries an upstanding housing4, provided with a hinged door 7 with a door handle 8. While the doorhandle 8 is shown as being hook-like, it is understood that otherconfigurations of handles may be substituted. The closure 1 has aportion 1 hinged as at 3 to the closure 1 enabling the closure of thecontainer to be opened to empty the contents thereof. Portion 1' iseither bolted or welded to the container. Looking at the underside ofthe container closure 1, as best depicted in FIG. 2, the door 7 isconnected to a hinged gate having sections 9 and 9', which move indirect relation to door 7 through the action Patented Sept. 5, 1961 ice,

of swivel rod 14 which is fitted into gate sides 6. The sections 9 and9' are connected by hinge 10. A hinge stop 11 in the form of a platebent into a generally V- shaped configuration terminating in a flangeportion is secured to the underside of gate 9 adjacent to the hinge 10,and the Vshaped part of the hingestop 11 extends over the hinge 10. Thefree end of the hinge stop is positioned beneath section 9' and incontact therewith when the sections 9 and 9 are in substantiallycoplanar position as shown by dotted and full line illustration'in FIG.3. It is evident that the hinge stop 11 limits the movement of thesection 9' of the hinged gate about the hinge 19 for a purpose whichwill be hereinafter disclosed. A hasp 5 which interfits with a staple 12as best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 locks the closure 1 to the container 2. Aprojection 13, depending from the underside of the closure 1, is locatedbetween the gate sides 6 remote from the hinge 1G to engage the section9' when the door 7 is moved to the open position as shown in'dottedoutline in FIG. 3. I

With reference to the operation of the instant invention, it is best torefer to FIGS. 3 and 4 which show several positions of the door 7 whilethe container is both in the normal and inverted position. It is seenthat gate 9 is simply an angled extension of door 7 deriving a leveraction from the fulcrum of swivel rod 14. In ordinary operation thehinge action of hinge 10 does not come into play. The waste paper ispreferably cut or torn into small pieces. This action is desirable froma security aspect but, further, it is an aid in the operation of theinstant invention because of the'small openings involved. I The door 7is opened by use of handle 8 and the paper inserted into housing 4. Ascan be seen from FIG. 3, opening of door 7 causes gate 9 to rotate aboutswivel rod 14 until section 9' hits against projection 13. At thispoint, the inserted paper is confined in an irregular cubicle bounded ontwo sides by gate sides 6, the top of the container, gate sections 9 and9' and projection 13, having only one opening, which is door 7. Uponclosing door 7, section 9' comes away from projection 13, allowing theinserted paper to fall into container 2. To this point the action of thecontainer closure operates much like any mail box except for severalimportant structural differences which serve to render the containertamperproof. The configuration of the housing 4, jutting, as it does,above the plane of the container top, makes accessibility to thecontainer 2 through the door opening extremely difiicult. Once the paperhas passed on into container 2, fully opening the door 7 causes sections9 and 9 in cooperation with gate sides 6 and projection 13, aspreviously shown, to bar re-entry of the paper into the aforementionedirregular cubicle. Partially closing door 7 causes section 9' to comeaway from projection 13; however, this narrows the entry passage andbecause of the configuration of housing 4, there is presented thefurther limiting factor of edge 15; Coupled with this limited access toonly the upper part of container 2, is the further limitation of gatesides 6 which prevent any probing into container 2 from door 7 exceptdirectly forward of the door opening and that on a shallow downwardangle.

Where the would-be tamperer seeks to dislodge paper from the containerby turning it upside down or tilting it in any degree, more of the novelstructure inherent in the instant invention comes into play. This aspectof the container top is best shown in FIG. 4. As the container isoverturned, the door and gate combination are so weighted and levered asto open the door in fully opened position. This position is shown by thedotted line configuration in FIG. 4. The section 9 of the gate is in thesame general plane as section 9 of the gate and hinge 10 is not broughtinto play. At this point, the paper will fall against the top of thecontainer and the underside of gate sections 9 and 9'. Gate sides 6 willprevent the possibility of any paper entering into the cubicle definedby the gate sides, the gate, the gate stop, the inside surface of thetop of the container and the housing 4 from the sides. This leaves onlythe possibility of getting some of the paper into this cubicle throughthe opening between the gate section 9' and the gate stop 13. However,as the door 7 is closed, gate 9 is drawn upwards and hinge 10 goes intoaction, thereby keeping gate section 9' constantly against gate stop 13.The net result of this hinge action is that no paper can be withdrawnthrough the door 7 once it has been deposited in container 2.

The hasp and staple 12 are used to lock the closure securely to thecontainer and also to chain the container to some immovable object ifdesired. To remove the stored material the lock is removed and thecontainer closure is opened through the action of hinge 3.

It is seen that an exceedingly simple yet effective means for preventingpersons from tampering with the contents of the container or removingmaterial from it by inverting it and inserting an instrument or the likethrough the opening has been provided. It is to be understood that whilethere is shown and described one preferred embodiment of the invention,there may be slight modifications and variations in some respectsWithout departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any ofthe advantages thereof.

We claim:

I. A tamper-proof closure for a container comprising a lid, an openingin said lid, an enclosure beneath said lid communicating with saidopening including side walls and an end wall, a door for said openinghingedly supported by said enclosure and having an extension beneathsaid lid, said extension including a lower section hingedly 4 connectedthereto; a hinge stop attached to said extension limiting the travel ofsaid lower section relative to said extension, said end wall meansforming a part of said enclosure coacting with said lower section tolimit the travel of said lower section and means for securing saidclosure to a container.

2. A tamper-proof closure as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lidincludes hinged portions and a hasp for connecting the closure to acontainer.

3. A tamper-proof closure for a container comprising a lid, a housingincluding an opening carried by said lid, an enclosure beneath said lidcommunicating with said opening and including side walls and an endwall, a door for said opening hingedly supported by said side walls andhaving an extension beneath said lid at a fixed position relative tosaid door, said extension including a lower section hingedly connectedthereto, a stop attached to said extension limiting the travel of saidlower section relative to said extension, said end wall of saidenclosure limiting the travel of said lower section and means forsecuring said closure to a container.

4. A tamper-pr0of container closure as claimed in claim 3, wherein saidhousing comprises a shallow box-like structure having an open side andwherein the length of the structure normal to the plane of the lid issubstantially greater than the depth normal to the plane of the openmg.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS771,051 Fonts Sept. 27, 1904 1,212,321 Buckholz Ian. 16, 1917 1,322,522Bixon Nov. 25, 1919 1,539,929 Arial June 2, 1925 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 2,998,897 September 5, Y1961 Frank B. Rudder et al.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patentrequiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read ascorrected below.

In the grant, lines 1 and 2, for "Frank B. Rudder, Leonard E. Simpson,and Leonard G. Smith, all ofdFairfax County, Virginia, read Frank B.Rudder and Leonard E. Simpson, both of Fairfax County, and Leonard G.Smith, of Alexandria, Virginia, in the heading to the printedspecification, lines 3, 4, and 5, for "Frank B. Rudder, 329 W GrovetonSt. Leonard E. Simpson, 601 The Parkway; and Leonard G. Smith, of Box198, R.D. 6, all of Fairfax County, Va. read Frank B. Rudder, 329 W.Groveton St. and Leonard E. Simpson, 601 The Parkway, Fairfax County;and Leonard G. Smith, Route No. 5 Box 397-(3. Alexandria, Va,

Signed and sealed this 20th day of February 1962.

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST w. SWIDER a I DAVID L. LADD Attesting Officer I Commissioner ofPatents

